Birthdays
1801 - Johann W. Kalliwoda, composer, conductor and violinist. (Alternative Names/Transliterations: Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda, Johannes Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda, Jan Kalivoda. He is the father of Wilhelm Kalliwoda, who followed in his father's music career footsteps. Listening pleasure: Concertino for Oboe.)
1836 - Léo Delibes, French composer of operas and ballets, whose works include the ballets Coppelia and Sylvia, and the opera Lakme. After composing light comic opérettes in the 1850s and 1860s, while also serving as a church organist, Delibes achieved public recognition for his music for the ballet La Source in 1866. His later ballets Coppélia and Sylvia were key works in the development of modern ballet, giving the music much greater importance than previously. He composed a small number of mélodies, some of which are still performed frequently. Coppélia and Sylvia remain core works in the international ballet repertoire, and from on occasion, Lakmé is revived in opera houses. (Léo Delibes Ballet Coppélia (1. partie). Uploaded by Volodimir Valik. Accessed February 22, 2019.)
1893 - Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña, Virtuoso Spanish Classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia, or students of his students. His contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire not only included commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style. (Andrés Segovia - Recital 1962 (rare video live !). Uploaded by Daniel Magli. Accessed February 22, 2019.)
1903 - Anaïs Nin (Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell), French-American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Nin was the daughter of composer Joaquín Nin and Rosa Culmell, a classically trained singer. Nin spent her early years in Spain and Cuba, about 16 years in Paris, and the remaining half of her life in the U.S., where she became an author. She wrote journals prolifically that detail her private thoughts and personal relationships. Her journals describe her marriages to Hugh Parker Guiler and Rupert Pole, and her numerous affairs, including those with psychoanalyst Otto Rank and writer Henry Miller, both of whom profoundly influenced Nin and her writing. Nin also wrote novels, critical studies, essays, short stories, and volumes of erotica. Much of her work was published posthumously amid renewed critical interest in her life and work.
1927 - Erma Louise Bombeck (née Fiste), American humourist who achieved great popularity for her syndicated newspaper humor column describing suburban home life. She also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers. Between 1965 and April 17, 1996 – five days before her death – Bombeck wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read semi-weekly by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.
1927 - Hubert de Givenchy (Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy), French fashion designer who founded the house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn and clothing for Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970.
1933 - Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon), American singer & songwriter. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She chose to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
1946 - Alan Rickman (born Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman), English actor and film director. Known for his languid tone and delivery, Rickman's signature sound was the result of a speech impediment when he could not move his lower jaw properly as a child. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), performing in modern and classical theatre productions. He played the Vicomte de Valmont in the RSC stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, and after the production transferred to the West End in 1986 and Broadway in 1987 he was nominated for a Tony Award. His final film roles were as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky, and reprising his role as the voice of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland in Alice Through the Looking Glass.
1961 - Christopher Atkins, American actor, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon. He was a sailing instructor with no acting experience when he was cast in the film. In 2009, Atkins appeared on VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol, a reality show featuring former teen idols. He was ranked no. 76 on VH1's list of 100 Greatest Teen Stars. Atkins became a luxury pool builder and co-developed the Christopher Atkins Strike Jacket E.F.L. (Extreme Fishing Lure)--"a rubbery slipcovering for traditional baits."
1979 - Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress, film producer, and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated. She had her breakthrough as Sarah Reeves Merrin on the Fox teen drama Party of Five (1995–1999) and rose to fame as a teen star for her role as Julie James in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer and its 1998 sequel, as well as Amanda Beckett in the teen comedy film Can't Hardly Wait. She has other notable films. In music, she has also released some studio albums.
1983 - Melanie Laurent, French actress, filmmaker, singer, and pianist. The recipient of two César Awards and a Lumières Award, she has established herself as an accomplished actress in the French film industry. Laurent has appeared in stage productions in France. She made her theatre debut in 2010 in Nicolas Bedos's Promenade de santé. The short film De moins en moins marked her debut as a filmmaker. Her feature film directorial debut is The Adopted. Respire, her second production as a director, was screened at the International Critics' Week section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. She made her singing debut with a studio album En t'attendant in May 2011; the album contains twelve songs, five of which are co-written and co-produced by Irish folk musician Damien Rice.
Leftie:
Actress Melanie Laurent
More birthdays and historical events, February 21 - On This Day
In Memoriam:
Rev. Billy Graham, American Christian evangelist who passed, Feb 21, 2018, aged 99. Arguably, he was the most influential preacher of the 20th century. Billy Graham Documentary: Leadership and Legacy in History (Accessed Feb. 21, 2018), Billy Graham, America's Pastor has Died (USA Today, Accessed Feb. 21, 2018)
Rev. Billy Graham, American Christian evangelist who passed, Feb 21, 2018, aged 99. Arguably, he was the most influential preacher of the 20th century. Billy Graham Documentary: Leadership and Legacy in History (Accessed Feb. 21, 2018), Billy Graham, America's Pastor has Died (USA Today, Accessed Feb. 21, 2018)
Historical Events
1431 - The trial of Joan of Arc begins.
1842 - John J. Greenough patents his sewing machine invention.
1848 - Karl Marx, aged 29, publishes the Communist Manifesto in England.
1875 - Jeanne Calment is born, going on to live for 122 years 164 days, the longest confirmed lifespan for any human being noted in history.
1947 - Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera" in New York City - the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
1952 - Winston Churchill permanently abolishes ID cards. He is just restored as Prime Minister after the post-war government of Clement Attlee.
1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson discover the structure of the DNA molecule.
1958 - The peace symbol design was completed. It was commissioned by the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. (Refer to the 19 Nobel Peace Prizes awarded within the field of arms control and disarmament: http://goo.gl/emc9y8.
Video Credit:
Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda - Concertino pour hautbois. YouTube, uploaded by Michel Le Naviose. Accessed February 21, 2018. (Orchestre symphonique Sostenuto - Soliste Johannes Grosso - Direction Takashi Kondo - 1 novembre 2014 - Maison de la Culture de Clermont-Ferrand)
Resources:
1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)
2. Britannica. www.britannica.com
3. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 19th Ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011
4. Dateline. Sydney: Millennium House, (2006)
5. Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org
(c) June 2007. Updated February 21, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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